Frequently
Asked Questions
Is IHE
a bank or a builder?
Instant Home Equity is
not a bank, builder, or broker. With over 50 years of staff
experience, IHE is an owner-builder support service that combines
all of the tools and building support necessary to build your
new home. We have special partnerships with our affiliates
to provide not only the materials needed to build your new
home, but also 100% complete construction financing on land,
labor, materials and closing costs. All for No Money
down.
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Why
should I use your program and not just buy a home?
There are several reasons why the
IHE program beats buying a home. The main reason our customers choose
the IHE program is down payment, or the lack thereof. Most
people that buy a home must come up with cash for a down payment
and / or closing costs on the home. Down payments can be as high as
10 - 20% of the total cost of the home. Closing
costs can easily run into the thousands. With the IHE program,
our qualified customers can obtain a no down payment construction
loan with the closings costs rolled into the loan. This means there is no out of pocket
cash required outside of the small initial application fee
to IHE.
Another reason our
customers prefer the IHE program over buying a home is
equity. If you decide
to buy a new home from a traditional builder you can expect
to pay the current market value of the home. If
it is worth $150,000, you will pay $150,000. With
the IHE program our customer's average equity position
is over 20% at the time they modify their construction
loan into a permanent mortgage. This
means that if our customer's permanent mortgage is for
$150,000, on average, their home is worth $187,500 and
has $37,500 of Instant Home Equity!
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Why
is your program not available in my state?
The Instant Home Equity program is
currently available in 39 states, however, our program is not
available in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida,
Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. The main reason we have
chosen not to operate in some states is home values are higher
in some areas and lower in others. The Instant Home Equity
program works better in areas where values are higher and conversely
it does not work well in areas where values are traditionally
lower and thus is not offered in those areas. Another reason
is the level of difficulty an owner-builder may experience
during the building process. Some
areas have significant building issues including impact fees,
engineering or architectural issues and the use of different
building materials that make it difficult for owner-builders
to succeed. Finally,
there are just some areas that Instant Home Equity has
chosen not to do business in, at least for now.
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How
can I find out prices on the models?
The price
of our models can vary from area to area due to regional
differences in the type and use of building materials, even
for the same house.Your local sales representative will have
all the prices for your area on each model and will help
you determine the best model for you based on what you can
afford and the style of home you wish to build.
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Can
I build a log home through your program?
Unfortunately
at this time we do not finance the construction of log homes
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How
long does the whole process take?
The process is
broken into two distinct phases.
The first is the processing
and planning phase. You begin by signing up to build your
new home with your local Instant Home Equity New Home Consultant.
IHE then works with you and one of our affiliated lenders
to complete your loan application including obtaining bids,
ordering an appraisal, finalizing your materials package
and completing title work. This phase ends when you close
on your construction loan and takes an average of 30 -
60 days.
The second is the building phase. Our customers should expect the actual
time to build their home to be between 4 to 6 months. Our affiliated
lenders offer 12-month construction loans to provide a 'safety net' and
make sure there is enough time to build under nearly all conditions.
The average time to build varies due to the various levels of customer
participation. Your actual build time will be determined by how well
you run your project and the amount of work you actually do yourself.
This phase is complete when you finish your new home and convert your
construction financing into a permanent mortgage.
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What
are your interest rates?
Our affiliated lenders construction
loan interest rates are the same that is available to most
builders. Normally, what our lenders offer cannot be
found by consumers unless they build using an experienced
general contractor (and their fees). Instant Home
Equity has established relationships with these lenders that
allows us to bring this unique financing to our owner builder
customers. Interest rates continually fluctuate and
we at IHE are committed to finding affiliated lenders that
will offer you the best possible rates and terms available
in a competitive market.
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Do
I have to own land in order to qualify for the IHE program?
No,
Instant Home Equity provides 100% complete financing on Land,
Labor, Materials, and Closing Costs, all combined into one
loan.
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How
do I find land for my home?
There
are two choices that help you determine the right land for you.
A. Cost- First decide what is a reasonable price range for you based
on your income. One way to get an initial estimate of what you can afford to
spend on the land purchase is to use two-thirds of your total annual income as
a guideline. So if you and your spouse or partner make $50,000 combined, look
for land in the $30,000 price range. Your local Instant Home Equity representative
will also assist you in determining a
more specific price range for you based on your individual
situation.
B.
Location- This is important not only because of where
you wish to live but also for the value of the home.
A particular house built in an urban area will not have
the same value as the same house built in a suburb. If
that house is built in a rural area with few houses surrounding
it, it will typically have a lower value. The most important
factor is to choose a location that best suits your lifestyle,
choose wisely.
Now
that you have those two factors in mind, how do you find
the land that is right for you?
There are many tools at your disposal if you look in the right places.
-
Classified
Ads- Local and state papers are good sources
to find available land. Check in the "Lots
for Sale" section.
-
Drive around- Look
in the areas that you are interested in building.
Many areas have signs advertising available lots
for sale.
-
Contact
a Real Estate Agent- YellowPages.com can
be a good source to find agents in your area.
Tell them that you are interested in building
a home. Ask for a lot listing for the area in
which you would like to build.
-
Ask your
IHE Sales Rep- Your local representative
can help find lot listings in your area.
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Do
I have to have perfect credit in order to qualify?
Instant
Home Equity offers alternate affiliated financing for those
with less than perfect credit. We also provide assistance
with budgeting and permanent financing to help get the construction
loan you need to build your dream home!
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What
does "Average Earned Equity" mean?
Average
Earned Equity means the average equity our customers have
earned the day they move in. With Instant Home Equity, our
customers have earned thousands of dollars in equity through
our Sweat-Equity program.
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Can
I use my own floor plans?
Instant Home Equity has
more than 25 value-engineered floor plans for you to choose
from. We have designed these plans to be compatible
with our program and taking into account the varying skill
level of our customers. We
strongly encourage our customers to build one of these plans.
We do realize that we could
never please everyone with this selection of plans and
will work with potential customers that have their own
blueprints. The
application fee is a little higher and you must have a
complete set of buildable blueprints as we do not offer
design services. Please
ask your local representative for more information on this
option.
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What
exactly does a General Contractor do?
Acting as the General
Contractor means that you are responsible for finding the
subcontractors, obtaining bids and permits and overseeing
the construction of your new home. By doing this, many of
our customers have saved up to 20% of the cost of
their new home. Instant Home Equity will
be there to assist you in every way.
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How
much of the work can I do myself?
That depends on you. At
a minimum, our customers have to act as the project manager
on their new home and oversee the building process. Most
of our customers do some light work such as painting. Some
of our customers, with building experience, do a lot of the
work. The more work
you perform on your new house, the lower the total cost,
which means more equity! Ultimately, your level of involvement
depends on your desire to save money and your building aptitude.
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I
would like to: remodel my existing home, add an addition
to my home, build a garage for my home, etc. Can the
IHE program help me?
The Instant
Home Equity program is for people that want to build a new
home with no money down. We
cannot help anyone seeking to remodel or add on to an existing
house.
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This
deal sounds too good to be true. What is the catch?
Is there
a catch? Yes there is, but it might not be what you are expecting.
The "catch" is also the key to obtaining a brand
new home of your own: Motivation. A project
such as building your own home can be a big one, but if you
have the motivation to oversee a project, then this program
is for you. This does not mean you have to be out there with
a hammer and nails in hand. Many of our customer's involvement
is limited to supervising the construction process, to make
sure the job is done right. Whatever you choose, Instant
Home Equity will assist you every step of the way.
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I
requested information, when should I expect a representative
to contact me?
Typically an IHE Sales Representative will contact
you within 2 to 3 days from the time of your request. If
you have not been contacted by a representative within a
week, please send an email to kvanguilder@iheonline.com.
Please include your Name and Phone Number, Zip Code and date
of the original request so we can find the nearest representative
in your area.
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US NOW AT 1-800-779-7790 Ext. 903 |
